Aeroplane



y 19, 1931- W. NIEMEYER 1,805,994

AEROPLANE Filed bee. 51, 1928 2o plane employed will act Patented May 19, 1931 teases WILLIAM NIEMEYER, OF SHERIDAN, TEXAS AER-OPLANE Application filed December 31, 1928. Serial No. 329,393.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in an aeroplane.

One object of the invention is to provide an aeroplane of the character described having 5 a novel type of fuselage and a singleroof-like plane mounted on the fuselage, and disposed longitudinally with respect to the line of travel of the craft and inclined forwardly and upwardly with respect to said line of travel.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide an aeroplane of the character described so constructed that the load supported by the plane will be suspended from said plane and distributed substantially I equally about the 1 5 centralpoint thereof, said plane having depending side walls thus providing a channel like structure to confine the air and stabilize the craft in flight; and in case the craft should become disabled and fall the type of as a parachute and permit the aeroplane to slowly descend.

Another object of the invention is to provide an aeroplane of the character described, that is of such novel construction that it will offer a minimum of resistance to the air in flying, and will therefore be capable of great speed. A further feature of the invention is to provide an aeroplane equipped with novel stago bilizers, some of which are arranged to operate automatically, and others of which are equipped for manual operation.

With the above and other objects in view this invention has particular relation to certain novel features of construction, operation and arrangement of parts an example of which is given in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1, shows a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the device taken on the line 11 of Figure 2.

Figure 2 shows a ly broken away.

plan view thereof, part- -L5 Figure 3 shows a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows a fragmentary transverse sectional view.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference width thereof, these dimensions being subject to variations to meet the requirements of the situation. The plane 2 has the depending side walls 3, 3 coextensive in length therewith. q q

Mounted in the fore part of the fuselage there is a motor 4 having the forwardly extending propeller shaft 5 to the forward end of which the propeller 6 is fixed. The propeller and plane have such relative disposition that, in flight, as the machine moves in a horizontal direction the plane 2 will be for- Wardly and upwardly inclined. relative to the plane of the propeller to give the desired lifting effect.

7 There are the horizontally disposed frames 7, 7 one on each side of the fuselage and in these frames are the front stabilizer wings 8, 8 one on each side and the rear stabilizer wings 9, 9, one on each side. The front stabilizers are operated automatically,and the rear stabilizers are operated manually.

These front stabilizers are fixed to the outer ends of the shafts 10, 11, which are mounted to rotate in suitable bearings and whose inner ends have the intermeshing gear wheels 12, 12 fixed thereon. Fixed on the shaft 11 there is a bevel gear 13- which is in mesh with a similar gear 14 fixed on the rear end of the shaft 15. This shaft 15 is mounted to rotate in suitable longitudinally aligned hearings in the forward end of the fuselage.

. Fixed to and depending from the shaft 15 there is a weight rod 16 whose lower end carhas a bearing on the rod and whose lower end is attached to the rod 16. The rods 16 and 18 are formed with the transverse arcuate bearings 19, 20 to receive the shaft 15 and which permit said rods and the weight 17 to swing independent of said shaft.

The stabilizers 9 are fixed to the outer ends of the shafts, 20, 21, which are mounted to rotale in suitable bearings and whose inner ends have the respective intermeshing gears 22, 22 fixed thereon. The shaft 21 has a bevel gear 23 fixed thereon which is in mesh with a similar rotatably mounted gear 24 fixed to which there is the disc 25. A link 26 is eccene trically connected, at one end, to the disc 25, and, at the other end, to the disc 27 fixed to the rotatably mounted bevel gear 28. Said gear 28 is in mesh with a similar gear 29 which may be rotated back and forth through the hand lever 30. By manipulating the lever 30 the stabilizers 9 may be actuated, through the mechanism described, simultaneously, but in reverse directions. As the craft swings, or sways, from side to side about its longitudinal axis, the weight 17 will swing substantially vertically and, through the mechanism described, will actuate the stabilizers 8, simultaneously, in reverse directions and will thus automatically right the craft. The stabilizers 8 may be held inactive, if desired, by means of the fork 31, which is operable through the hand lever 32 and which may be engaged about the rod 16 to hold the weight 17 in inactive position.

It is to be noted that the stabilizers 8, 9 are attached to their respective shafts in. front of the transverse central lines of said stabilizers so that said stabilizers will not be reversed by the air in flight.

There is an enclosed cockpit 33 for the aviator and this, in turn, is enclosed in a compartment whose walls 34: are formed of strong wire mesh, and which has a continuous floor 35 and an entrant door 36.

In case of trouble the aviator, or mechanic, can go about in said compartment to make repairs with safety.

The cock pit has the entrant door 37 and the craft is equipped with the usual elevating rudder 38and vertical rudder 39 operable in the usual manner and has the conventional landing gear for it.

What I claim is i 1. In an aeroplane a skeleton frame work forming a fuselage and of triangular vertical cross sectional contour, a substantially fiat plane forming the top of said framework which is longer from front to rear than from side to side, and depending marginal, side walls carried by said plane at substantially right angles thereto and extending from end to end thereof.

2. In an aeroplane a skeleton frame work forming a fuselage and of triangular vertical cross sectional contour, a rectangular plane forming the top of said framework which is longer from front to rear than from side to side, and depending marginal side walls carried by said plane at right angles thereto, and extending from end to end thereof.

. 3. An aeroplane including a fuselage, a plane thereon having depending marginal side walls, side frames, on each side of the plane, wing like stabilizers arranged in said frames,on"each side of said fuselage, means for automatically controlling some of said stabilizers, and meansfor manually controlling other of said stabilizers.

4. An aeroplane including a fuselage, a

rectangular plane thereon whose major dimension extends from front to rear of the craft, depending marginal side walls carried by said plane at substantially right angles to the plane, foraminated walls forming an enclosed compartment in the fuselage, a cock pit in said compartment, the weight of the load sustained by the plane being distributed substantially equally around the center of the plane.

5. An aeroplane including a fuselage approximately rectangular in horizontal cross sectional contour and of a skeleton structure, a plane on the fuselage forming a roof coextensive with the horizontal area of the top of the fuselage, said fuselage and plane being'longer fore and aft than the width thereof, marginal depending side walls carried by and coextensive in length with the plane and at substantially right angles thereto, a motor mounted in the fore part of the fuselage having a forwardly extending propeller shaft which declines forwardly relative to the plane, a propeller fixed on the forward end of said shaft, side frames carried by the fuselage, a front and a rear stabilizer pivotally mounted in each side frame, means for automatically operating some of said stabilizers and means for manually operating other of said stabilizers.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

. WILLIAM NIEMEYER. 

